We do Market Research to help us better understand the industry that we are working in. Market research provides:
Library databases are online collections of different types of sources, often on a specific subject. Browse and access the databases below to find valuable data in company, industry and country reports (including SWOT analyses, market trends, consumer preferences, and more).
Magazine and journal articles on all aspects of business and management. Also includes company and industry profiles, SWOT analyses and market, country and product reports.
This international database provides access to market reports that analyze consumer and service industries across 80 countries. Also includes company profiles. Industries covered include Apparel, Consumer Finance, Consumer Foodservice and Travel & Tourism.
Statistical data and analysis of business, industry, product brands, market share, media, and social scientific topics, obtained from both private and public sector sources, and covering all regions of the world.
Information on Canadian market and consumer behavior with profile data for over 3,500 products and services in the Product Data section. **To request access to the Dapresy platform password, please contact the library or your Liaison Librarian
Another excellent tool when doing market research is doing an Environmental Scan - this requires you to look through articles (and other media) to get a sense of what is happening in your industry. Are there any major innovations? Are there new trends that stand out? What is impacting a specific industry (Social, Economic, Political, and Industrial)? Remember, industries and companies don't exist in vacuums, how they do business and how that business changes can be impacted through any number of factors.
You might start with Social Media to get a sense of what is going on in an industry, but you will need to shift to other sources - similar to those found in the databases below.
Full text access to Canadian magazines and journals on business, management and related topics.
Full text access to major Canadian newspapers, including the Globe and Mail, the National Post, and the Toronto Star.
There are multiple websites that you can use to help in doing market research. If you are doing research on companies, it is always a good idea to start by looking through the company website: what kind of annual reports do they have? Do they publish investor reports? Are there any press releases available online?